The Jaguars welcomed Jakobi Meyers to the fold on Wednesday, but they were missing another wide receiver on the practice field.
Brian Thomas sat out the team’s first on-field work of Week 10 with an ankle injury. Thomas suffered the injury during last Sunday’s overtime win over the Raiders and his status will be one to watch ahead of the matchup with the Texans.
The Jags have Travis Hunter on injured reserve and Dyami Brown was limited due to a concussion, so Meyers’ arrival is well-timed for a receiving corps in need of healthy bodies.
Left guard Ezra Cleveland (knee, ankle), cornerback Jourdan Lewis (neck), and tight end Hunter Long (hip, knee) were also out of practice. Linebacker Dennis Gardeck (chest), defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton (back), and linebacker Jack Kiser (quad) were listed as limited while linebacker Devin Lloyd (calf), tight end Quintin Morris (groin), and wide receiver Tim Patrick (groin) were full participants.
The Texans will not have their starting quarterback when they face the division-rival Jaguars on Sunday.
Head coach DeMeco Ryans told reporters in his Wednesday press conference that C.J. Stroud has been ruled out for Week 10 due to the concussion he sustained in the Week 9 loss to the Broncos.
Stroud did not participate in the day’s practice. Given that he’s already been ruled out, he may not get on the field all week.
With Stroud sidelined, Davis Mills is set to make his first start of the season. He was 17-of-30 passing for 137 yards in Sunday’s loss to Denver in relief of Stroud. That was Mills’ second appearance of the season. He previously completed 2-of-4 passes in mop-up duty during Houston’s 44-10 victory over Baltimore on Oct. 10.
Mills has not started a game since 2022 — the year before the club drafted Stroud. In his 40 career appearances with 26 starts, Mills has completed 62.3 percent of his passes for 6,327 yards with 35 touchdowns and 25 interceptions.
Houston’s first full injury report of Week 10 will be released later on Wednesday.
Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn has a lower-body injury, putting his availability for Sunday in question, Aaron Wilson of KPRC reports.
Free agent kicker Matthew Wright visited Houston on Tuesday and signed with the team’s practice squad, per Wilson.
Fairbairn kicked five field goals and missed a 51-yarder in Sunday’s 18-15 loss to the Broncos. He has made 22 of 25 field goals this season.
Wright has made 56-of-65 career field goals and 43-of-45 extra points. He has kicked for the Commanders, Titans, Chiefs, 49ers, Panthers, Steelers and Jaguars.
The Texans very well may have beaten the Broncos if C.J. Stroud had played more than 16 minutes, but he didn’t.
Stroud was diagnosed with a concussion after a slide when a hit by Broncos cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine slammed the quarterback’s head into the ground. Officials threw a flag for unnecessary roughness.
Replay reversed the on-field decision, deciding that the slide was late and that Abrams-Draine didn’t make contact with Stroud’s head.
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans was understandably confused about the decision, saying it absolutely was unnecessary roughness.
“He hit the quarterback when he was sliding and giving himself up,” Ryans said, via DJ Bien-Aime of ESPN. “If I’m incorrect on the rules, I’ve seen that happen multiple times with our guys, and we get the penalty.”
Stroud left with 13:49 remaining in the second quarter, going 6-of-10 for 79 yards.
Stroud missed two games with a concussion as a rookie in 2023.
The Broncos entered the fourth quarter trailing 15-7. They had the Texans right where they wanted them.
The Broncos moved to 4-0 when trailing in the fourth quarter, beating Houston 18-15 on a last-play field goal. Denver improved to 7-2 with a sixth consecutive win, while Houston slipped to 3-5.
Wil Lutz kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired, allowing the Broncos to escape yet again. His kick was the only snap the Broncos had in the red zone all day.
Bo Nix set up Lutz’s heroics with a 25-yard run to the Houston 36, and later, a 9-yard scramble to the 16.
It was a gut punch for the Texans, who saw quarterback C.J. Stroud leave with a concussion early in the first half.
Houston went 0-for-3 in the red zone, failing to score a touchdown. Its only points came on Ka’imi Fairbairn field goals of 23, 41, 38, 40 and 41 yards. He missed a 51-yarder in the first quarter.
In the second half, with Davis Mills at quarterback, the Texans had only 87 yards, two first downs and went 0-for-7 on third down.
Mills was 17-of-30 for 137 yards.
Nix and the Broncos weren’t much better against the Texans’ No. 1-ranked defense, with 271 yards and two turnovers. Nix was 18-of-37 for 173 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. J.K. Dobbins had 15 carries for 61 yards.
RJ Harvey caught five passes for 51 yards and a touchdown, and Courtland Sutton’s one catch was a 30-yard score. Six other players caught a Nix pass.
